WEEK 7-27-15

Hey Family!

Well my iPad is about to die so I will have to keep this short.  But lots of love!

We had a great week this week.  I got to teach the Adzovic family how to pray and boy did that make me trunky.  They are making so much progress.  We teach them and at the beginning or the end the kids are fighting over who can say the prayers.  And they are the best prayers ever.  So simple but meaningful.  We invited them to baptism and the mother said she would have to think about it for the good of her children.  We are meeting with them on Wednesday to talk about it more.  I miss kids they are great.  It's super funny though, random thought, I keep telling all the missionaries that after my mission, I am going to live on the beach, go to school, and grow out all my hair and beard.  It is going to happen because I got it approved by some good friends of mine that I could totally pull it off.  And that the first thing I want to do is buy a dog.  The dating can come afterwards.  But yeah, sorry, trunkiness is heavy in the air as we are going to lose two missionaries next week.  My companion, and a sister named sister Bell.  They are cool.

 We have also been meeting with a guy lately who likes to bible bash with us a little and he is scary good.  Whenever we say something, he finds scriptures to talk about and leads to some random subject we were not talking about.  So I have been reading the Old Testament to study up in my bible knowledge but I'm trying to stay focused and awake during the process. I'm currently in numbers and man it's a battle every morning to stay awake.

 

So that is really been our week of late.  I will be here in Hamburg probably until the middle of September.  But I am not complaining.  I like it here and I am looking forward to meeting my new companion. I have no idea who it is but I will probably just train him in the area and then go somewhere else.  But that's not for another 7 weeks.

The kids look great! Olivia is starting to look grown up for me and that is super scary.

Well love you all!

Elder Bretzing

WEEK 7-20-15

Well howdy Family, 

Yet another week come and gone.  It was a really stressful week too.  And I will explain why to the best of my ability and capability.  But time to walk down memory lane.

So on Monday, well we talked to each other on Monday, as we started an exchange.  And exchanges are always really fun, but sometimes I feel like you have to work super harder during that time because you or your companion for that day is not used to the area or the friends they have that you will teach there.  So I was able to go on exchange with Elder Simmons, which is ironic because he was in my district back in the Meißen days.  So we got to reminisce about those days and talk to each other about how East Germany is doing and all the fun stuff like that.  And it is his last exchange because he goes home with my companion, Elder Weakley. 

 

 So we have this goal in the zone to do a lot of finding, but finding that is planned where we have a focus and a purpose every time we go and try to find new friends to teach.  So Elder Simmons and I really wanted to focus on something in Preach My Gospel "Talk to Everyone."  Man, talk about tiresome.  We talked to EVERYONE that day.  If we saw someone on the other side of the street, we crossed the street.  If they tried to avoid us and go to the other side of the street, we would follow them and cross the street again.  If they were sitting at their mailbox, we would walk up to them. Or more commonly here in Germany, if they were sitting on their apartment balcony, we would yell up and talk to them. 

 

We had a good time and we found a really cool lady from Ghana that we have an appointment with her on Tuesday.  Oh, yeah, so I never really told you this but because I have been here in Hamburg for so long, I have picked up some TWI (the major language in Ghana) and so sometimes when we talk to people from Ghana, we are able to talk to them in a short conversation like where they were from in Ghana, if they like it here in Hamburg and what day they were born on (because that is also a name they carry from the day they were born.  I am Yao.)  So we were exhausted at the end of the day but felt satisfied that we did all that we could in our power to help all that we came in contact with to share the gospel. 

We then had another two exchanges after that!  It was really crazy and sad.  They were an Emergency Exchange and unfortunately two of our missionaries had to go home early.  It was a sad experience and my heart goes out to them and their families.  President Fingerle told us that the best thing that we can learn from this situation is that we are striving constantly and paying the price to live worthy lives in order to have the influence of the Spirit with us at all times.  And that how important it is that when we receive a spiritual prompting, that we act on that prompting like what President Monson always teaches us.  So that left an impact and we are working the best we can to continue going forward and making sure that we are living our lives in order to receive these precious spiritual promptings.

 

Through this, we have been working with President Fingerle more closly and I know that he is truly called to be here at this time.  I have not yet had a personal interview with him but from all the times that we have talked on the phone and discussed things for the zone or for the missionaries, I am excited to work more closely with him.  It is really an interesting approach, but every thing we do together is always in German.  I am not used to it but it has probably been the most fun and new experience with working with my mission President.

 

So that is my week in a nutshell.  The others can tell you how fast a week goes by when you have an exchange there and we had 3 this week.  So I can barely remember what happened during the middle of them.  

Well, my love goes out to everyone and I will talk to you all next week!

 

Tschüss!

Elder Bretzing

WEEK 7-13-2015

Well howdy Family! 

This week has been a new week.  We were able to meet with President Fingerles and their whole family on Wednesday and that was a really cool expierence!  They are a really cool family and I hope that when i get older that that is how my family will look like and be so willing together as a family to go on a mission.  Now, I know that I will never be called as a Mission President but it was a cool expierence to be there and to take part in it.  I look forward to working with them more.  It has been very interesting, but they only will speak German with us.  I think that they really want us to learn the language and to do the best we can.  But that has helped me so much because ever since they have come into the mission field, when I am around them, I do not feel so self concious about my German.  And that is something that has been very helpful and kind of a strength booster for me.  And I have started to write him back in German in my weekly letters and man that takes alot of time now.   

This week was also really cool because about three weeks ago, Elder Weakley and I found a really cool family, named the Adzovics and they have been making slow and good progress.  We had a big giant summer festival at our church for the entire city of Hamburg and they came!  It was great!  They are a huge family and the ward absolutely swallowed them up and was super nice with them.  They have already made friends with most of the kids here there age and we are hoping alot of good things from them.  The most amazing part is that the two boys are deaf, but they are the most loving and patient boys that I have ever met.  I played basketball with the older one the entire time and it goes to show that you do not have to understand or even hear each other to have a good time and laugh about it.  I will keep you updated on how they are doing.

 

In the mission, we have a new focus on really pushing to get our new investigators to go to the temple as soon as possible.  And I find that such a great goal.  We have been working with alot of the new members here in Hamburg and really start preparing them to go to the temple.  So far, we have about 5 people ready for a temple trip to Frankfurt Temple, too bad we cannot go with them, to be able to perform in baptism for the dead.  It is such a great time, and it has been helping with the reactivation of some of the new members here who have been touch and go lately here in hamburg.

 

Yes, I absolutely loved all the pictures!  I am still trying my best to get pictures of me in the shirt still but I keep forgetting.  Tell Olivia that I am so proud of her and that she looks adorable in her pictures!  Next time she celebrates her birthday, I will be home (well, I will be home probably like 2 weeks after)  but you can go ahead and tell her that now.  We will see what really happens as that time comes speedily around the corner.  

 

I hope everyone is having a great time and if they have time to shoot me an email when they have free time.  I know that my track record of responding to emails have been very bad, but I have been kind of kicked in the butt from the sisters and elders here in Hamburg for not responding to alot of emails, so if anyone would like to shoot me an email I will try my very best to respond in the next little bit.

 

Love you all!

Elder Bretzing

 

The Adzovics

WEEK-6-29-15

Well hey loving family! 

One more week gone... But congratulations about the baby?! Are they already thinking of names for her? That will be strange to see a new face when I get home. But it's cool I am excited for it! 

This week has been really weird for we had transfers and I was the only one who stayed out of the original elders and sisters who came with me to Hamburg. So I had to say goodbye to sister Stacey and elder Silver.  They are really cool missionaries.  Sister Stacey is probably one of the best missionaries that I have seen and elder Silver had a great sense of humor.  So it is different around here, but life moves on! And the best way to cure a sorrowed heart is to work! So we have been getting to work with ideas and things that we want to do with the zone for this upcoming month of July.  We really want to focus on the finding of the missionaries so that has been keeping me busy.

 We have two new missionaries in our area, sister Murdock (who is dating someone from the 10thward I think) and elder chadez.  We are happy to have them with us.  We haven't gotten our new mission president yet, he flies in tomorrow.  But I have already made a goal that when I see him this Friday for mission leadership council that I will give him a huge hug! I am excited to work with him and get to know him and his family.

Our investigators are doing good.  We have been keeping ourself busy.

I often find myself wondering how it gets so late and before I know it it is bedtime.  But it is different here in Hamburg in the summer, the daylight doesn't go away until 10 o'clock in th evening.  Which gives us plenty of time to talk to people on the street.

Well that is it from my side today, I am sorry that my letters keep on getting shorter and shorter I will try to make them better.  Tell everyone I say hi and that bishop needs to stick in there until I get home!

Love ya,
Elder Bretzing

WEEK 6-22-15

Hello all:

No I won't write you in German today even though it is super fun.  Transfer calls came and I am staying here in Hamburg for another transfer.  I will send my companion home  after this one so it is probably a good chance that I will be staying in Hamburg for another three months.  It is good.  I am happy that the lord needs me here.  It will be sad because all the missionaries that I came into Hamburg with are leaving on Tuesday.  

Just thinking about the past four months here in Hamburg, I have been thinking a lot about the missionaries.  I really want to help them and see the potential that they have to be successful missionaries and that they see the success they deserve.  So if I could say, there is a big fire that has been lit under my butt to help these missionaries get things into gear.  There is a reason that the Lord has kept me here for another transfer and I want to find out why.

Our investigators are doing good.  We have a man right now who is probably the most faithful man alive.  His name is Kobena Kyere.  He is a great man.  You will have to make me tell the story about him.  He has the desire to be baptized and so we are working hard with him to see this happen.

But that is it in a nutshell.  We get our new  mission president next week and so on Saturday there will be president Fingerle instead of Kosak.  I will be sad but determined to help him.

Love you! If there is any questions that I did not answer please let me know! I send everyone my love and wishes! 

Love, 

Elder Bretzing